Riverdale Baptist School shot putter Rashad Manning waited quietly for his turn. While other throwers hopped around, sought advice from coaches and worked themselves into a frenzy, Manning stood with his shoulders relaxed and a bored look on his face.

Moments before walking into the cage for his first throw, Manning decided he wanted to powder his hands. Sometimes, he uses powder. Sometimes, he doesn't. But he never brings his own, so Manning quietly asked another shot putter to share — his focus never breaking as he made his last-minute adjustment.

Still carrying the same tranquil facial expression, Manning walked into the circle and launched the shot 54 feet and 3.5 inches to break a Last Track to Philly meet record Saturday at Georgetown Prep. Later, the sophomore's winning throw left the record at 54 feet and 9.75 inches.

“When I'm competing, I'm in a certain zone,” Manning said. “I don't really talk to other people. They talk to me, and I'm OK with it. I'm not bored, but I'm not one of those guys who jumps around. I don't jump around and yell. I stretch, and I pray, and I just throw.”

Before the meet, Manning's coaches told him about the previous record — 52 feet and 3.5 inches by Gov. Thomas Johnson's Brian Uthe in 2011 — a mark Manning had already topped in the Bishop Loughlin Invitational, Friends of Indoor Track Invitational, Hispanic Games and Montgomery Invitational this winter. Would he have preferred not to know the number to beat?

“When I was younger I probably would have said not know, but now, it doesn't really matter to me — unless it was something that I haven't reached yet,” Manning said. “If it was 60, then I would like to know. Either way, I'm going to try my best. But if it was 60, then I would have a little more excitement.”

Manning's shot put coach, Donna Barrett, suggested to meet officials push back the barriers before the event began. That proved wise during Manning's throws that had upperclassmen competitors watching wide-eyed.

“I forget myself I'm a sophomore, really,” said Manning, who began throwing at age 9 when he joined the track team to lose weight for football. “I've been going against so many older guys.”

That has left Manning in a dilemma when it comes to choosing a college path.

Thomas Johnson pole vault coach Chris Heinze said another one of his pole vaulters, Erick Artusio, cleared 14 feet and nine inches in 2009. But that wasn't counted in the meet program, allowing Shipley to break the recognized record of 12 feet and six inches set by Thomas Johnson's Greg Donitzen last year.

“We'll call it a record,” Heinze said with a laugh. “If Sam has it, at least my guy still has it.”

Beakes ran a fresh two mile at the Montgomery Invitational earlier this month, finishing in a personal-best 10:47.28. So, Saturday was her chance at a fresh mile, and again, she set a personal best while setting her meet record.

“I'm really happy, because I don't really think of the mile as my event, usually,” Beakes said. “I'm more of a two miler. So, it's good.”